Wenninger, C. (2011). Management of collaborative supplier networks : new management challenges for building value from distributed dynamic supplier networks in the automotive industry [Master Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubtuw:1-50612
Today economic pressures are forcing companies to foster companies ways' of doing business. Competition is global and tougher and companies are operating in many different industries. Customers are demanding more and are less loyal than ever before and it is much harder to make money out of this global market conditions. Companies in all industries are looking beyond their individual enterprises to identify new ways to increase revenue and profit margins (Irland, 2005). An industry which has been significant hit by the recent global economic and ecological changes is the global automotive industry. Recent emphasis on global market changes increased the pressure on automotive executives to make the right decisions in many areas including research and development, manufacturing and market development. Furthermore new strong entrants from China (such as Chery Automobile, BYD) and India (such as Tata Moters) are working aggressively to capture global market shares. All these challenges hit an industry which had great years of growth and was number one job market producer in the last 40 years. Meanwhile, only a handful of established automotive manufacturers and supplier are consistently delivering satisfactory profits like Volkswagen, BMW, Bosch, Denso or BorgWarner (Schwarz, 2008). In this dynamic business environment, a superior supply chain is a critical element to achieve a competitive advantage in the markets. Today's automotive companies are reinforcing the need to redefine supply chain strategies, layouts and operations to master their supply chain better, improve operational costs, quality and service levels. One of the main supply chain management challenges is the improvement and establishment of the coordination and collaboration of business processes across company boundaries. Supply chain management is the coordination of strategic and long-term cooperation in logistic networks however many authors have replaced the term supply chain with supply networks, which can be seen as wider interorganisation networks that consist of interconnected companies (Harland, et al. 2001). Management of Collaborative Supplier Networks.